IBM's2011Tech Trends Report is hot off the press! It includes data and insights from a survey of thousands of IT professionals worldwide on the topics of:

Business Analytics

Cloud Computing

Social Business

Mobility (last but not least!)

We'd like to share some of the key takeaways from the mobility part of the report.

Top platforms for mobile development

Survey takers were asked which mobile platforms they were planning development projects on within the next 24 months. Android was the leading mobile development platform by a sizable margin. However, iOS, Windows 7, and Blackberry also had a significant percentage of affirmative responses. The main takeaway is that a strong majority of IT professionals were planning to develop on some platform, and many on more than one platform.

Focus areas for mobile computing adoption

IT professionals were also asked in what areas they would be focusing on in 2011. Overall, the focal areas were spread out across a wide range, with enterprise apps and industry-specific apps leading the way.

Key concerns on mobility

The main concerns IT professionals raised on mobility were on security/privacy (53%), and cost of development (52%).

Mobility is a movement, not a trend

While the title of the report may suggest it is about 'tech trends, mobility is more than a trend. Trends come and go, and can sometimes be ignored. Mobility, on the other hand, is more of a movement. Movements last for the foreseeable future. Companies need to get on top of movements eventually, and those that do so earlier will have a greater chance of succeeding. IBM's tech trends report is more evidence that companies must invest in mobility in order to stay competitive. At the same time, mobility has the potential to improve productivity and reduce costs if implemented well.

The tech trends report also contains interesting insights into the evolving fields of business analytics, cloud computing, and social business. For more detail on all four of these fields, you can download the 2011 IBM Tech Trends Report

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If enterprise mobility is a growing consideration, you’re in
good company. Seventy-four percent of participants in the IBM 2011 CIO Study
cited mobility solutions as the second “most important visionary plan element”
behind business intelligence and analytics. And that reflected a 6 percent
increase over last year’s study.

Chances are, mobile workers aren’t new to the mix in your
organization. But the environment has changed rapidly, and you may be operating
a mobility program that isn’t quite up to today’s challenges. You may have a
program with limited users at either the task worker level or for executives
with a single, corporate-issued smartphone. But you’re looking to roll out a
broader program.

Let’s look at deployment from an end-to-end perspective,
with the understanding that you might skip a few steps here and there depending
on your situation. Or you might work with a services provider to manage the
project.

First of all, be aware that the device itself is the least
of your worries. The challenges in enterprise mobility come from the “hidden” costs
and issues surrounding devices, such as end-user support, security, mobile
applications and more. And more employees are bringing their own devices into the workplace.

Mobility assessment

As in any IT-driven project, you should have a proper
assessment of both users and the environment, to develop a strategic plan and
design. Consider these questions to start:

How do
you remotely monitor mobile devices to ensure uptime?

How can you control hidden
costs associated with deployment?

How do
you manage software updates for your mobile devices and mobile workforce?

Are you experiencing difficulty
managing multiple device types, operating systems, rogue or unapproved
applications, or inconsistencies in applications and data? Would you like
them to be automatically and centrally managed?

How
many mobility applications do you enable your workforce with today and how
do you manage them?

Mobile device procurement

Even with personally owned devices entering the workplace,
you can still maintain control over enterprise device procurement—just do it
differently. Self-service portals can allow users to choose from a catalog of
pre-defined, pre-tested models—while you keep better track of order histories
and pricing without daily involvement by procurement or IT. This helps smooth
out global processes for greater consistency across your organization. And you
might be able to leverage the buying power of a service partner.

Staging and kitting

“Dead-on-arrival” devices are productivity killers, but you
don’t want your IT staff to spend valuable time coordinating packages and
checking every device. Hand this over to a trusted partner to reconcile orders,
test units and Gold images testing, bundle up the devices with accessories and
instructions, and ship to users wherever they are.

Mobile device management

The key word: management. From asset tracking to pushing
software application and configuration updates over the air, advanced mobile
device management from an experienced provider can help enforce consistent
security policies, provide more visibility through reporting and deliver
end-user support. Your devices and your mobile employees stay more productive
with a lessened burden on your IT staff.

Free Whitepaper: Securing End-User Mobile Devices in the Enterprise

Learn how to develop an enforceable mobile security policy and practices for safer corporate data

“Resistance is futile.” That’s the rallying cry of your
mobile workers and professionals, armed with their iPads and Android smartphones,
all vying for access to your corporate applications and data. In fact, these
consumer devices have already infiltrated the workplace. The introduction of
personally owned devices can drive security risks higher, make integration
difficult and wreak havoc with end-user support. But with a bit of planning and
careful consideration, the “bring your own device” (BYOD) trend can bring a
host of benefits to your enterprise.

It may be tempting to ban the use of personally owned
devices in your workplace, but IT policies that take a hard line are probably not
be enforceable. As you might expect, many smartphone and tablet users will
circumvent IT policy, putting the enterprise at greater risk. And here is
something else to consider: You wouldn’t ask your employees to use mimeograph
machines to make copies. Outdated technology tends to inhibit productivity and
increase dissatisfaction—not exactly the environment that today’s innovative companies
are striving to create, or that talented employees will tolerate for long.

So, how do you make this movement work for your organization?
In other words, how do you allow choice while retaining control?You can take a methodical approach:

·First, assess users and your current
environment, including current and planned devices and applications. A deep
understanding of how mobility works today (or doesn’t) throughout your
organization will help you get off on the right foot

·Use the assessment output to plan and
design the right program for your organization -- one that balances the needs
of your users (who’s in the field half the time, who needs access to CRM
applications, etc.) with the constraints on your infrastructure and resources

·Kick off the implementation with pilots
so you can leverage what you learn along the way while minimizing risk and business
disruption. IBM has been building expertise and expanding internal mobility
programs over time, tweaking as we go, and users are benefiting from the
learning

·Establish, document and communicate
acceptable use and other policies—especially to safeguard corporate data. Your
legal department will love you.

·Plan for a more complex support burden. Although
it seems allowing personally owned devices might make IT’s job easier, there
will be more questions on set up, remote access and use of corporate
applications and device problems—at least initially. You should plan to provide
some levelof
end-user support in-house or outsourced to a knowledgeable provider, if only to
help your workers remain productive and their devices highly available.

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